"I need your help," were the first words that came out of Yizhuo's mouth the moment she sat at the seat opposite her two best friends (wingwomen). Gasping loudly, Yizhuo stood up suddenly and glared at every direction, as if she was expecting something to pop up out of nowhere. Jimin raised a brow, urging an explanation out of Yizhuo. Sighing, Yizhuo sat back down.

 

"Just checking if Minjeong's here, y'know? I know I asked Yeji-unnie and Ryu to hang out with her and all, take her somewhere, but you can never be too sure. They could be somewhere around here, no?"

 

Jimin and Aeri exchanged similar looks before looking at Yizhuo.

 

"Alright… so… what's up?" asked Aeri, never one to beat around the bush.

 

Yizhuo sighed, grabbing the menu from the table, covering her red face with it. She doesn't answer immediately, heart racing at the realization of what she was about to ask the couple.

 

"Is it about Minjeong-ie?" asked Jimin, recognizing the silence from Yizhuo as the type of silence that would come out from the younger girl when a matter concerned the aforementioned girl. When Yizhuo's pleading eyes peeked from behind the menu, Jimin grinned, leaning closer. "I'm all ears."

 

Completely lowering the menu, Yizhuo bit her lip. Taking a deep breath, she fixed an earnest stare at them.

 

"Unnies… promise me two things?"

 

The couple glanced at each other before nodding slowly. Yizhuo's mouth twitched in amusement when she noticed the way the couple was, in words from Aeri’s own vocabulary, in sync with each other. But now's not the time to think about that.

 

"Firstly," Yizhuo paused, taking another deep breath. "Promise me to be serious."

 

Aeri raised a brow. "What made you think that we aren’t already seri-"

 

"Unnie," Yizhuo cut her off with a pleading voice. "I need you guys to be serious, even just for today." Then she paused. "And maybe in the following weeks or months."

 

"Ning Yizhuo?" said Jimin almost in a concerned tone.

 

"Hm?" hummed Yizhuo absentmindedly, watching as the server of their food approached them.

 

"What's next?" asked Aeri, offering her burger to Jimin wordlessly, glancing at the older woman, who shook her head, mumbling something to her. Shrugging with a small smile on her face, Aeri bit down on her burger, cheeks puffed.

 

"What's ne- Oh right," Yizhuo exclaimed, snapping her fingers as if remembering something. She sets her strawberry milkshake aside, facing the couple with the same unsmiling stare.

 

"Promise me that you won't ever, ever, ever, ever tell Minjeong-unnie about what I'm about to say next?" asked Yizhuo. Suddenly, her hands felt clammy, leading her to hold them together under the table.

 

"We promise," replied Jimin and Aeri quickly, wanting to hear what Yizhuo had to say.

 

"So… I need your help," started Yizhuo in a soft voice, closing her eyes as a shy smile graced her lips. "Because…"

 

She looked at them with sparkling eyes, shyly looking back down as she twirled her hair with a nervous finger.

 

"I want to propose to Minjeong-unnie."

 

Jimin's mouth fell open; Aeri almost regurgitates her chocolate milk through her nostrils. 

 

The two looked at each other in silent shock. Regaining their senses, they looked at Yizhuo again. The girl's forehead was burning red from behind the menu, which was upside-down. 

 

Jimin grinned and slammed her fists against the table, their drinks almost spilling on the surface. 

 

"You asked the right people!"

 

—

 

"So… uhm, how should I do it?" asked Yizhuo, voice still uncharacteristically quiet and shy, looking at them with helpless, unsure eyes. "I want to make everything… I want everything to go really well. Even if it was something you wouldn't be able to call 'perfect', I want it to be something she would really love. You know?"

 

"What if she said no?" asked Aeri jokingly in a lighthearted manner, yelping in pain when Jimin pinches her ("Aeri!"), rubbing her arm with a pout. It wasn't like Minjeong would even say no to it, since the girl's been talking about marrying Yizhuo since the day they first met.

 

Except, Yizhuo's mouth went slack, eyes glassy as she stared at them, raising concern between the couple.

 

"Minjeong-unnie… If she said no…" she stopped talking completely, blinking. She knew it in herself that Minjeong would not- would probably never even consider turning her down. But the thought of her getting down on one knee, taking a small velvet box out of her pocket, presenting a shiny diamond ring in front of Minjeong and instead of seeing tears of joy falling from the girl's cheeks, a confused and sad expression and a single yet powerful 'no' greeting Yizhuo, was unbelievably painful for her. It made her heart feel heavy and yet very empty. 

 

Something painful pressed down on her foot, harshly forcing her out of her thoughts. She gasped when she remembered that she was wearing her favorite pair of white sneakers. Realizing that Jimin was stepping on her shoes, she kicked Jimin's leg.

 

"Unnie!" said Yizhuo loudly. "You're so—"

 

"You weren't responding," deadpanned Jimin, giving Yizhuo a flat look.

 

"I- Ugh, you're buying me a new pair!" said Yizhuo irritatedly.

 

"I have no problem with that," replied Jimin dismissively, leaning closer to Yizhuo. "So tell us-"

 

"What's your answer?" continued Aeri for her.

 

The couple looked at her expectantly, causing a sense of nervousness to crawl up Yizhuo's neck.

 

"I-I don't know dude," said Yizhuo meekly, staring at her hands under the table. "Minjeong-unnie probably wouldn't say that but… but the thought is still scary, y'know?"

 

"Hey," said Aeri, smiling at her softly. "I'm sure Minjeong really wouldn't. That kid loves you more than her favorite cupcakes!" Aeri grinned at her, the memory of a frantic Minjeong dropping the cupcakes she had bought with Aeri after she had learned that Yizhuo wasn't feeling at her best at home.

 

"You sure?" mumbled Yizhuo, pink dusting her cheeks. Aeri nodded vigorously.

 

"Alright but seriously, are you sure that you really want to marry her? Are you willing to spend the rest of your life with her? Are you sure that you're prepared for the day you're about to walk up to her at the altar as she waits for you in a white suit or a white dress? Are you ready for when the priest pronounces you wife and wife? Are you—"

 

"Hell yeah!" said Yizhuo loudly with no hesitation, eyes fired up with determination. 

 

…

 

"Do you know the size of her ring finger?" inquired Jimin, absentmindedly toying with her own ring on her left ring finger.

 

Blinking, Yizhuo frowned. "Yeah! It's… uhm.. " Pausing, Yizhuo gave them a pained smile. 

 

Yeah… She really did not know what Minjeong's finger size was.

 

"Well… uhm, it's… it's, uh, thinner, bonier and longer than mine, that's for sure…?"

 

Jimin facepalmed herself while Aeri burst into laughter, stifling her loud laughs when Jimin kicked her leg under the table to avoid people's attention on them.

 

"I'm almost sure she's the same as Aeri-unnie!" continued Yizhuo, a fiery blaze almost as red as her hair sparkling in her eyes when she said so. Her words seemed to have made Aeri laugh even louder. Jimin had resorted to feeding the woman with more food to shut her up instead of kicking her shin under the table, smiling apologetically at neighboring tables who seemed annoyed.

 

"Minjeong's fingers are long, but they aren't as long as mine," said Aeri once she had calmed down, flexing her fingers.

 

"They're definitely longer than Jimin-unnie's, since Jimin-unnie's are really tiny," said Yizhuo teasingly, knowing how defensive Jimin was when it comes to her fingers. But Jimin looked flustered for some reason, staring at Aeri's fingers, clearing when she realized that she was being addressed, eye twitching.

 

"H-Hey! They aren't that tiny," fumed Jimin, examining her fingers. "They're just… not huge."

 

Yizhuo stifled a guffaw. "Oh, to take the advice of a noble lady, one whose hands are tinier than the frog I've come across the other day!" Yizhuo exclaimed in a stage whisper, clutching her chest dramatically like a poor lady in distress.

 

"But seriously, Ning-ie, I think it would be fine if the two of you went to a jewelry shop or something, with a decent excuse to give her."

 

"How did you measure Aeri-unnie's finger?" Yizhuo asked Jimin. Jimin blinked before chuckling softly.

 

"It was really easy. I had to slip the ring on her index finger off while she was sleeping. Had her thinking she misplaced it somewhere. It was a looong night anyway so she was too tired to notice that I took it from her," added Jimin, lips curling into a mischievous grin. Yizhuo rolled her eyes.

 

Geez, for someone who looked as pure as Jimin-unnie…

 

"Ugh, I do not need to hear more of that from you," deadpanned Yizhuo as Jimin burst into laughter, pretending to gag when Aeri gives Jimin that (gross) look. "Minjeong-unnie has never worn rings since high school, so that's out of the question," continued Yizhuo in a murmur, more to herself, but was still heard by the other two.

 

"Well, you can do it the old traditional way," offered Aeri. "With a string around her ring finger."

 

"That's too much work to do," groaned Yizhuo, burying her face in her arms. She was not at all very keen on having to go through the trouble of slipping in sleeping pills in Minjeong's water-filled mug and tying a red string around Minjeong's left ring finger. The thought of technically drugging Minjeong made her shiver uncomfortably. 

 

…Actually, she would try to tie a red string around Minjeong's finger (minus the whole slipping sleeping pills in Minjeong's drink thing), but God knows how terrible she was at staying committed to doing something — though she was completely committed to her and Minjeong's relationship —so that pretty much was still out of the question. 

 

"Go shopping for rings together with her under the guise of buying a gift for your mom back in China?" offered Jimin. When Yizhuo just stares at her unresponsively, Jimin shrinks in her seat, ears red. "What? I buy gifts for my mom… It's a nice thing to do… I always do it whenever I want to surprise Aeri…"

 

"Wait, you do?" asked Aeri, dumbly blinking her eyes. Jimin's entire face had already turned bright red at this point, realizing that she had just told them too much.

 

"It's a decent idea, unnie, but Minjeong-unnie is really clever, she'll think it's suspicious," Yizhuo finally said, sighing heavily. 

 

"Fair point."

 

"So what are you gonna do now?" asked Aeri.

 

"Dunno," answered Yizhuo grimly, slouching in her seat. Jimin chided her about getting a bad spine if she continued this habit of hers and Yizhuo relented with a series of grumbles.

 

She really wasn't the type to get all fussy with things like this. It was completely uncharacteristic for her to get worried about things like this — it was even terrifying how she was already worrying about stuff like how her kneeling stance would affect the atmosphere around them, or if she should angle her arms decently so that Minjeong would clearly see a pretty, shiny diamond ring in a small velvet box clearly and all that — she was normally the "go with the flow" type of gal.

 

"Ning-ah, at the end of the day, as long as you tell her exactly how you really feel, that’s all you need." Jimin smiled at her warmly. “I know that you're the type of kid to do things impulsively and planning things isn't exactly your forte, but you’re worrying over nothing, really. Minjeong's gonna be more than happy to listen to what you have to say.” 

 

Glancing at the woman she had vowed to spend the rest of her life with in love, Jimin smiled softly, idly running her finger along her own wedding ring adorned with tiny diamonds.

 

"Trust me, I know.”

 

…

 

"Thanks for getting me home, Jimin-unnie and Aeri-unnie." Yizhuo stepped out of the car, brushing dust off her pants with her hands. "I'll treat you guys to dinner one day," declared Yizhuo.

 

Jimin waved her hand at her dismissively. "Just make us proud by proposing to Minjeong. That's more than enough for us."

 

Yizhuo scoffed, kicking a pebble from the ground. "Of course I will! I'm not gonna back out from this!"

 

"You're already sure about marrying her, aren't you?"

 

"Of course I am!" replied Yizhuo fiercely, eyes ablaze with determination and passion.

 

"Fight on, kiddo!" Aeri called out to her loudly when Yizhuo began to walk away. Yizhuo just acknowledges her words with a dismissive wave of her hand.

 

"She kinda reminds me of me when I was planning out how to ask you to marry me," said Jimin suddenly, smiling, staring ahead as she drove away. Aeri glanced at her.

 

"Really?"

 

"More than you think," answered Jimin cryptically, still grinning widely. 

 

"Eh, why?" asked Aeri curiously, still gazing at Jimin's side profile, absentmindedly letting her left hand trace lines on Jimin's thigh. Jimin rolled her eyes good-naturedly.

 

"My love, you know how silly and clumsy and stupid I am, right?"

 

"You're not silly, clumsy or stupid!" Aeri answered with indignation. Blinking, she grinned at Jimin meekly. "Okay, maybe you are a little clumsy."

 

Jimin snorted, making a turn left. They could see the outline of their own house as the car moved towards it. It was nothing too fancy or too simple, it was modest and comfortably spacious enough to call their home. 

 

"See? Anyways, the point is that I was also panicking and all while trying to think of how to propose to you the best." Parking their car in the garage, Jimin got out first. Before Aeri can even pull the car handle, Jimin beats her to opening the car door — like the silly gentlewoman that she was, Aeri thought to herself with an affectionate roll of her eyes and a soft smile — allowing Aeri to exit the vehicle. 

 

"I almost outed my plans to you a lot of times. Remember that one time I got drunk when we celebrated Jisu and Yeji getting engaged?"

 

"Yeah?"

 

"I told you that I'll make you my wife that week," said Jimin, walking with Aeri hand in hand to the front door. "And… well, when Yeji called and told my hungover the next morning what my stupid self did the previous night, I panicked and rescheduled the whole thing."

 

"You didn't need to, you know," commented Aeri as they stopped at the front door, hands intertwined. Opening the door, Aeri untangled their hands, letting Jimin into the comfort of their home.

 

"I needed to," Jimin replied as she practically threw herself on the couch. Rolling over, she looked at her wife with a pout. The sight made Aeri's heart feel warm, but the words that came out of Jimin's mouth just made it feel even warmer. "What good of a future wife would I have been if I didn't exer